Truck Caps…

[ChrisB]

Hello all,

It’s been a long while since I have been here. Actually forgot about this forum till I was researching a subject. I’m sorry . If y’all can forgive me I do have some questions. My truck is. 2015 Tacoma, which I am mostly pleased with. Small details, like an automatic transmission and a small bed, other than those I am very happy with the truck . I have been on the hunt for a cap for a while for it, considered buying new, have you ever priced a new shell for a truck!?!? Base model with the only option is color matched, got quoted 2200 for it. Then I got to thinking and researching, it may be possible to build one. I have stumbled onto the Glenn l build plans but I’m just a little unsure. Has anyone ever built one for a truck? I have the 5 foot bed on the truck, just need to keep stuff dry and secure. What would be your thoughts on it?

Thanks,
Chris

[philpom]

I bought a Leer color matched shell for my truck that included power ports, LED cargo lighting, sliding front glass window and floating side windows. Worked out to $3K. $2200 sounds reasonable. I'd shop around but if you want it to look super nice and I assume you want it to since you got a quote on color match then you're gonna need to buy one unless you have mad skills!

[gudmund]

in 1986 bought a new Chev S-10 and ordered a Canopy for it - 6ft color matched painted, window boot w/slider rear truck window along with both side windows hinging open with raised roof = $$ just over $900..... this last April(23) bought one of the last '22's on the lot, a new Chev Colorado getting -$3500 off window sticker and ordered the canopy a few days later, ordered pretty close the same set-up as before - but 5ft long this time - color matched paint along with both side windows hinging open and the raised roof (truck already had the slider in it this time) total $$ this time around = just over $3300...... that's where the truck discount went. -BUT- now the rest of the story - it took about a month and 1/2 to get it and the day after it was installed, I hooked up the trailer and did a 'test' tow to see what it is like having 300+ HP now when towing = towed just fine!!! after, just as I was ready to turn in to my housing area I kept going and went to the local store and got a ice cream bar. Than getting back into the truck to drive home, I realized that now I have a back-up camera and I can now have a look-see at my wire hook-up as I make a hard turn (making sure it is not to short)...so now being to busy watching the camera as I left the store, I ended up hooking the stop sign post with the trailer fender - it bent forward sliding down the side of the trailer with the stop sign taking out the NEW back canopy window = "only" another $600 for the replacement one which took another 2 months to be delivered. oh well...... the glass did clean up easy being it was all was crumbled up inside the bed box...............

suggestion: you might start watching on Craigs list and do some hunting around for one this coming spring.....

[hidesertrocker]

Not exactly what you're talking about, but you may be able to glean some ideas or at least get an idea about cost and level of effort from JakeJakeJake's foamie camper build:

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=74848

His videos are on the 'tube:

https://www.youtube.com/@ThatJakeWorldWide

[RJ Howell]

I built a cap for my F150 as a learning curve into working with XPS foam. Was surprised with how strong it was and how easy it was. I did PMF over, yet nw with more experience working with XPS, I'd go fiberglass over.

https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=71879

[western traveler]

I considered building a cap for my ‘22 Colorado. Then considered a Soft Top but after seeing a Taco in Death Valley with one and talking to the owner I mixed that plan due to his comments regarding dusty roads.
Quoted $3400 for a new Snugtop with everything including Yakima roof tracks.
I was on the fence with the color match as I’m pretty burnt out on the look and have noticed a lot of overlanders with black caps. Found this in a Topper lot in Torrence I while down in Southern California. It actually goes with all the black chrome I have on the truck and happy with it. $1800 with all the features I wanted including pet screens. Just over a year old and immaculate.
Living in Montana and seeing the rigs passing through many have moved away from color match. This OG is ok with it.
Be interested to see your build if you do one.

[western traveler]

[tony.latham]

I built one a gazillion years ago for a Datsun.

Building one wouldn't be difficult. It's just a matter of keeping the weight down, figuring out how to seal the rear door, scavenging a couple of windows, and finding the proper door hardware.



Tony

[working on it]

• 1) in 1986 bought a new Chev S-10 and ordered a Canopy for it - 6ft color matched painted, window boot w/slider rear truck window along with both side windows hinging open with raised roof = $$ just over $900.....
  
  
• 2) this last April(23) bought one of the last '22's on the lot, a new Chev Colorado getting -$3500 off window sticker and ordered the canopy a few days later, ordered pretty close the same set-up as before - but 5ft long this time - color matched paint along with both side windows hinging open and the raised roof (truck already had the slider in it this time) total $$ this time around = just over $3300

I have had two pickup caps/toppers in the past 42 years, both aluminum, which I loved. They never leaked, and withstood hailstorms (surprisingly) and both were painted to match or complement the trucks' paint. I had considered getting another cap/topper for my '04 Chevy 2500HD longbed, but I already had installed a very-large/deep (and at $100, cheap) cross-body tool box, that my wife found at Walmart and actually gifted it to me (a rare occurrence). I also had a Harbor Freight truck crane mounted in the bed (for moving engines, transmissions,etc. for my car hobby and for my racing team). It made a cap out of the question.

HF truck crane with hand winch.JPG (95.29 KiB) Viewed 1278 times

• 1)in 1981, I bought a longbed Ford Courier (a Mazda-badge engineered truck, with the Ford 2.3Lengine...which I had to replace 3x in 65000 miles, before I traded it in for a '86 S-10 in 1986. The next day, I drove to a hole-in-the-wall shop, where two guys built and installed a brown aluminum cap (with 4 plastic, brown-tinted bubble-type windows on each side of 2 awning-style windows, on my new yellow truck. All glass was tinted, even the rear hatch window. It was really sturdy and I liked it. Cost $325, IIRC. I would've kept it, but it wasn't even close to matching the Charcoal grey shortbed S-10.
  
  
• 2) In about 2002-3, I was building up a '75 Chevy C-10 (built a new engine, renewed just about every other mechanical system) as a dedicated tow vehicle to take on long trips, to haul my '66 Chevelle on my 18' trailer. It had 3.42 gears and front disc brakes, making it better to haul, than with my'69 C-10 (hi-po engine, 3.73 gears, drum brakes all around). Once the '75 was semi-restored, I began to use it for other things, including driving to work (120+ mile round-trip), and thought it would work as a sleeper (when I got iced-in at work), if I put a cap/topper on it.
  
  I had seen a blue aluminum cap (the '7s was the same shade of blue!) in the yard of an industrial shop, near my in-laws ranch, and asked mu father-in-law to go by there, and look at it, and try to buy it, if available. He did, it was in good shape, and he bought it for $10! Even the clamps were included. I used that truck for 2 years as a tow truck (my used, '04 Chevy 2500HD took over in 2005), 5 years as my "bad weather" utility/sleeper vehicle (I bought a '09 Chevy HHR Panel specifically for that purpose, and also as a daily driver with better gas mileage). I'd still have the '75 C-10, but it became redundant, so I traded it for a spare 350 engine for my wife's '98 GMC (it was stolen from a friend's shop), and lots of expensive spare parts for drag racing, in 2010.

[ChrisB]

Thank you all for the advice. I have been scouring Facebook marketplace for a year or so looking for one. The bad part is I can find them all day long if I had the long bed. My bed is pretty much square 61x63 (if my memory is correct). Seems cap that size are a little hard to come by. If it was a new truck I’d buy a new one in a heart beat. I do have your book Tonyso maybe using that as a guide it will help.

Appreciate everything,
Chris